How Hangar derived Portico’s identity from the basilica next door

In Mosta, Malta, the boutique hotel Portico sits adjacent to the Mosta Dome Basilica and takes its name from the portico that defines the basilica’s façade. Maltese design studio Hangar was engaged from the outset, before the hotel even had a name, to develop the naming, positioning, messaging and identity. The brief asked for a contemporary hotel brand that would feel at home with the architecture beside it. “When we visited the location, we noticed that the main suite has a direct view to the basilica,” explains Creative Director Clint Tabone. “From there, we started exploring the architectural history of the building and tried to understand what made this building different from other local churches.” By Hangar’s account, brands in the area commonly choose domes, rotundas, religious terminology and derivations of the word Mosta, so instead, the studio looked for a connection to the landmark that was less obvious. A portico is an architectural threshold, so Hangar took arrival, transition and shelter as the hotel’s positioning, bringing that thinking together with the line ‘A sanctuary of rest.’ Hangar went back to the site for a closer look and photographed all of the inscriptions, which include prayers and messages in Latin and Maltese as well as the names of artists. “We didn’t really approach the identity the same way we did the name,” Tabone continues. “We knew the basilica is special for many reasons, and all the different typefaces that we found on the building added to this overlooked speciality. When we studied the type found here, we noticed that these originated in different periods.” The lettering on the building was made using different techniques, with some of it from as recently as 1992. “So this interesting and varied type palette offered us a selection which needed to be narrowed down, and this is where we picked what we felt were the most interesting,” Tabone details.